Digital media reproduction and licensing

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for monetizing the reproduction of digital media content for the rights-holders of the digital media content. Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to determining whether a user of a media content item has a license to reproduce the media content item. In one embodiment, the media content item may be reproduced when the user is licensed. The user is prompted to select to acquire a license to reproduce the media content item or to decline the license to reproduce the media content item when the user is not licensed. Further embodiments determine whether a user may receive a license when the user wishes to acquire a license. In an embodiment, the user is declined a license when not approved for the license.

CROSS-REFERENCE

The present application is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 16/877,360 filed May 18, 2020, which claims thebenefit of U.S. Pat. No. 10,657,226, filed Feb. 19, 2018, and claims thebenefit of U.S. Pat. No. 9,898,590, filed Jul. 25, 2017, and claims thebenefit of U.S. Pat. No. 9,715,581, filed Nov. 2, 2012, and claims thebenefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/555,810, filedNov. 4, 2011, which are incorporated herein by reference in theirentirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments relate to licensing digital media for reproduction, and morespecifically to a digital media licensing system for licensing andenabling reproduction of digital media on a reproduction device.

BACKGROUND

Conventionally, the distribution of media content, such as music,movies, and books for example, is in large part controlled by owners whoare the rights-holders of the media content. In conventional systems,the media content is incorporated into a physical media such as acompact disk (CD), a digital video disk (DVD), a printed publication,and/or any other physical media. In such conventional systems, therights-holders of the media content are able to control licensing of themedia content, the production of physical media copies of the mediacontent, and/or the distribution of the media content to customersand/or third party retailers and thereby monetize the media content.

There has been a dramatic shift in the marketplace away from mediacontent distributed on physical media to digital media content that maybe distributed via the internet. Conventionally, rights-holders ofdigital media content have significantly less control over thedistribution of such digital media content as compared to thedistribution of physical media. For example, a party that does not holdrights of the digital media content may reproduce the digital mediacontent and then distribute the digital media content via the internetwithout the permission of the actual rights-holder of the digital mediacontent. As a result, the actual-rights holder of the digital mediacontent cannot monetize the unauthorized distribution of the digitalmedia content.

The inability of rights-holders of digital media content to monetize theunauthorized distribution of the digital media content limits thefinancial gain that rights-holders of the digital media content obtainin creating the original digital media content. Often times suchunauthorized distribution of the digital media content prohibits therights-holders of the digital media from covering the costs of creatingthe original digital media content which discourages creation of digitalmedia content.

BRIEF SUMMARY

Embodiments relate to monetizing the reproduction of digital mediacontent for the rights-holder of the digital media content. In anembodiment, a computer implemented method provides a multimedia hardwaredevice a capability to generate an authorized reproduction of a mediacontent item included in a digital media file. A digital media file thatincludes a media content item may be loaded for reproduction. Thedigital media file may be analyzed to identify digital media informationassociated with the media content item. A license database may beaccessed to determine whether a user is licensed to reproduce the mediacontent item based on the digital media information. The media contentitem may be reproduced when the user is licensed to reproduce the mediacontent item based on the digital media information. A licensing querymay be provided to the user when the user is not licensed to reproducethe media content item to prompt the user to select to acquire a licenseto reproduce the media content item or to decline the license toreproduce the media content item.

In another embodiment, a system provides a media content licensing andverification system to license media content for reproduction. Atransceiver may receive a media licensing request from an externaldevice associated with a user. The media licensing request may includedigital media information associated with a media content item includedin a digital media file. A processor may access a media catalog databasethat includes a plurality of media content records where a media contentrecord from the plurality of media content records is associated withthe media content item. The processor may also determine whether themedia licensing request is to be granted based on the media contentrecord stored in the media catalog database that is associated with themedia content item. The processor may grant the media licensing requestfor the external device when the media content record associated withthe media content item verifies the granting of the license for themedia content item to the external device. The processor may alsodecline the media licensing request for the external device when themedia content record associated with the media content item does notverify the granting of the license for the media content item to theexternal device.

Further embodiments, features, and advantages, as well as the structureand operation of the various embodiments, are described in detail belowwith reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments are described with reference to the accompanying drawings.In the drawings, like reference numbers may indicate identical orfunctionally similar elements.

FIG. 1 illustrates a digital media file licensing and authorizedreproduction system, according to an embodiment;

FIG. 2 illustrates a second digital media file licensing and authorizedreproduction system, according to an embodiment;

FIG. 3 illustrates a flowchart illustrating an exemplary aspect ofoperation for the media content licensing and verification system toanalyze a received catalog of media content and manage the catalog ofmedia content, according to an embodiment;

FIG. 4 illustrates a flowchart illustrating an exemplary aspect ofoperation for the external multimedia hardware device, according to anembodiment;

FIG. 5 illustrates a flowchart illustrating an exemplary aspect ofoperation for the media content licensing and verification system toreceive a payment for a license to reproduce a digital media file,according to an embodiment;

FIG. 6 illustrates a flow chart illustrating an exemplary aspect ofoperation for the media content licensing and verification system toreceive licensing information from a third party media retailer,according to an embodiment; and

FIG. 7 illustrates a flow chart illustrating an exemplary aspect ofoperation for the media content licensing and verification system toreceive a third-party request for licensing statistics.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The digital media file licensing and authorized reproduction systemprovides a capability to ensure that a user possesses a license toreproduce a digital media file and if the user does not have a license,providing to the user the option to obtain such a license. In theDetailed Description herein, references to “one embodiment”, “anembodiment”, an “example embodiment”, etc., indicate that the embodimentdescribed may include a particular feature, structure, orcharacteristic, by every embodiment may not necessarily include theparticular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrasesare not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Further, when aparticular feature, structure, or characteristic may be described inconnection with an embodiment, it may be submitted that it may be withinthe knowledge of one skilled in the art to effect such feature,structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodimentswhether or not explicitly described.

Overview

FIG. 1 illustrates a digital media file licensing and authorizedreproduction system 30 in which embodiments or portions thereof, may beimplemented. Digital media file licensing and authorized reproductionsystem 30 includes an external multimedia hardware device 10, a network12, a media content licensing and verification system 16, a mediacontent rights-holders system 18, a third party online media retailerssystem 20, and a hardware device manufacturers system 22.

System 30 may monetize the reproduction of a media content item includedwithin a digital media file. Reproduction of a media content item mayinclude reproducing sound from a digital audio file, reproducing videofrom a digital video file, reproducing text from a digital text file,and/or any other reproduction of a digital media file that will beapparent to those skilled in the relevant art(s) without departing fromthe spirit and scope of the disclosure.

Reproduction may be defined as a first use by a user of the mediacontent item. For example, reproduction of the media content item mayinclude when a user first accesses a media content item where the userobtained the media content item from an outside source, such as but notlimited to a third party online media distributor. Reproduction may alsobe defined as further distribution of the media content item by the userafter the user has initially accessed the media content item. Forexample, reproduction of the media content item may include when theuser distributes the media content item to other parties after the userhas obtained the media content item from the third party online mediadistributor.

A digital media file may represent a MPEG Layer 3 (MP3) file, aRealAudio (RA) file, a raw sample (RAW) file, a Microsoft wave (WAV)file, a Windows Media Audio (WMA) file, and/or any other suitabledigital media file that will be apparent to those skilled in therelevant art(s) without departing from the spirit and scope of thedisclosure. The media content item may include any portion of dataincluded in the digital media file. A user of external multimediahardware device 10 may reproduce the media content item with externalmultimedia hardware device 10. Device 10 may represent a smart phone, asmart tablet, a mobile telephone, a television, an audio system, apersonal music player, a portable computing device, other computingdevices such as a personal computer, a laptop, or a desktop computer,computer peripheral such as a printer, a portable audio/or a videoplayer, and/or any other suitable electronic device that can reproduce amedia content item that will be apparent to those skilled in therelevant art(s) without departing from the spirit and scope of thedisclosure.

However, the user may not have a license that authorizes the user toreproduce the media content item. The digital media file including themedia content item may have been procured from various sources that arenot licensed to reproduce the media content item and do not collectlicensing fees for use of the media content item. As such, when the userloads the digital media file for reproduction, device 10 may analyze thedigital media file to determine the media content item included in thefile and determine whether the user of device 10 is authorized. Forexample, the device may analyze a digital music file to identify thesong and artist of the media content item that may be a track includedin the digital music file. The user may be authorized when the user hasa license to load and/or reproduce a media content item included in thedigital media file.

In an embodiment, device 10 may analyze a plurality of identifyingcharacteristics associated with the media content item to identify themedia content item and to determine whether the user of device 10 isauthorized. The plurality of identifying characteristics may be anidentifying characteristic associated with the media content iteminherently present in the media content item such that the media contentitem is not remastered to include the identifying characteristic afterthe media content item is initially recorded. The plurality ofidentifying characteristics can represent a fingerprint, digitalwatermarking, and/or any other suitable algorithm to identify copyrightownership of the media content item included in the digital media filethat will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art(s) withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. In an embodiment,device 10 may analyze metadata included in the loaded digital media fileto identify the media content item included in the digital media file.

System 30 may query a license database locally and/or remotely locatedto system 30 to determine whether the user of device 10 has theappropriate license for the media content item. Device 10 may refuse toplay the digital media file and query the user to determine whether theuser wishes to purchase the appropriate license when the user does nothave the appropriate license.

Device 10 may communicate with media content licensing and verificationsystem 16 over network 12 and transmit the fingerprint of the mediacontent item to media content licensing and verification system 16 whenthe user selects to purchase the appropriate license. Licensing system16 may identify the media content item based on the receivedfingerprint. Licensing system 16 may transmit back to device 10 thetitle and/or other information associated with the identified mediacontent item and request the user to confirm purchase of the license.The user may interface with device 10 to conduct the licensingtransaction with licensing system 16, and after purchasing the license,licensing system 16 may transmit a license to device 10. After receivingthe license from licensing system 16, device 10 may commencereproduction of the media content item. Moreover, licensing system 16may store a record of the transaction for statistical purposes, and/orstore a copy of the license in a database under a user record associatedwith the user of device 10.

Device 10 and licensing system 16 may provide data associated with theuse of the media content item to media content rights-holders system 18over network 12. Rights-holders system 18 may be accessed by an owner ofa copyright for the media content item. For example, device 10 andlicensing system 16 may provide data to rights-holders system 18 thatincludes the user who is accessing the media content item, thegeographic location of the user who is accessing the media content item,other media content items that the user may be accessing, the quantityof times the media content item is accessed, and/or any other dataassociated with the use of the media content item that will be apparentto those skilled in the relevant art(s) without departing from thespirit and scope of the disclosure.

The data provided by device 10 and licensing system 16 to rights-holderssystem 18 for the media content item may be used by the copyright ownerto develop future licensing agreements that may be provided to the userof device 10 by licensing system 16 for future use of the media contentitem. Payments for the license to use the media content item may bereceived from the user via device 10 and licensing system 16. Paymentsmay also be distributed to the copyright owner via rights-holders system18.

Device 10 and licensing system 16 may also provide data associated withthe use of the media content item to third party online media retailerssystem 20. The data provided to retailers system 20 may be similar tothe data provided to rights—holders system 18. However, retailers system20 may be accessed by third party online media retailers who have beenselected by the copyright owner of the media content item to distributethe media content item via the Internet.

The data provided by device 10 and licensing system 16 to retailerssystem 20 for the media content item may be used by the third partyonline retailers to develop future pricing for their online mediacontent item distribution including which media content items todistribute in the future. The data provided to retailers system 20 mayalso be used to help third party online media retailers target themarketing of the media content item to demographics that have shown atrend of interest in the media content item. Payments for thedistribution of the media content item by the third party on line mediaretailer may be received from the user via device 10 and licensingsystem 16. Payments may also be distributed to the third party onlinemedia retailer via retailers system 20.

Device 10 and licensing system 16 may also provide data associated withthe use of the media content item to hardware device manufactures system22. The data provided to manufactures system 22 may be similar to thedata provided to rights-holders system 18 and retailer system 20.However, manufactures system 22 may be accessed by hardware devicemanufacturers who manufacture the hardware that may be implemented indevice 10 that provides device 10 with the capabilities to limitreproduction of the media content item to when the user has a license toreproduce the media content item. Payments for use of the hardwareprovided by the hardware device manufacturers implemented in device 10by the user of device 10 may also be distributed to the hardware devicemanufacturer via manufacturers system 20.

Device 10 may be configured to connect to network 12. Network 12 mayinclude one or more networks, such as the Internet. In some examples,network 12 may include one or more network technologies such asEthernet, Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet, a variant of the IEEE 802.11standard such as WiFi, and the like. Communication over network 12 takesplace using one or more network communication protocols includingreliable streaming protocols such as transmission control protocol(TCP). These examples are illustrative and not intended to limit thepresent disclosure. As shown in FIG. 1 , device 10 may engage incommunication with network 12 via connection 14, where connection 14 maybe a wireless, wired, a secured communication connection, anycombination thereof, and/or any other communication connection that willbe apparent to those skilled in the relevant art(s) without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the disclosure.

Licensing system 16 may be configured to engage in communication withnetwork 12. As such, device 10 may communicate with licensing system 16via network 12. Additionally, rights-holders system 18, retailers system20, and/or manufacturers system 22 may also communicate with licensingsystem 16 and device 10 via network 12. Licensing system 16,rights-holders system 18, retailers system 20, and/or manufacturerssystem 22 may engage in communication with network 12 via acommunication connection similar to connection 14.

Device 10, licensing system 16, rights-holders system 18, retailerssystem 20, and/or manufacturers system 22 may have a cloud computingconfiguration. Device 10, licensing system 16, rights-holders system 18,retailers system 20, and/or manufacturers system 22 may share resourcesvia network 12. For example, device 10 may retrieve licensinginformation for the user of device 10 who wishes to reproduce the mediacontent item via network 12. Licensing system 16 may also updaterights-holders system 18 with the user information for the user whowishes to reproduce the media content item. Based on the cloud computingconfiguration, the interaction between device 10, licensing system 16,and rights-holders system 18 may not be limited to a single externalmultimedia hardware device. A plurality of external multimedia hardwaredevices may update licensing system 16 and rights-holders system 18 vianetwork 12 with user information of users wishing to reproduce the mediacontent item. Licensing system 16 may provide each of these updates forthe user information to any media content rights-holders system thatrequests the user information.

Digital Media File Licensing and Authorized Reproduction System

FIG. 2 illustrates a second digital media file licensing and authorizedreproduction system 95 in which embodiments or portions thereof, may beimplemented. Digital media file licensing and authorized reproductionsystem 95 includes external multimedia hardware device 10, media contentlicensing and verification system 16, and network 12. Externalmultimedia hardware device 10 includes a processor 40, a transceiver 44,an input/output interface 46, a memory 52, a mass storage 60, a humanmachine interface (HMI) 48 and a reproduction module 50. Processor 40may be a hardware based processor that includes a general purposemicrocontroller, a special purpose microcontroller and/or any othercontroller that will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art(s)without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.

Processor 40 includes a media recognition module 42. Media recognitionmodule 42 may be configured to analyze a loaded digital media file toidentify the media content item included in the digital media fileand/or determine an identifying characteristic, such as a fingerprintfor example, of the media content item. In an embodiment, the mediarecognition module 40 may include hardware based circuitry configured toanalyze a loaded digital media file. In an embodiment, the mediarecognition module 42 may include program code executing on theprocessor 40 configured to cause the processor 40 to analyze a loadeddigital media file.

Memory 52 includes a digital media file 58, an application 54, and anoperating system (OS) 56. Memory 52 may be accessed by processor 40,such that processor 40 may read data from memory 52 and write data tomemory 52. In some embodiments, application 54 and/or OS 56 may includeprogram code including one or more instructions, that when executed byprocessor 40 cause device 10 to perform the steps necessary to executesteps or elements embodying the various aspects of the disclosure.Furthermore, digital media file 58 may be loaded for reproduction.

Mass storage 60 includes a license database 62 and digital media file58. License database 62 includes a license record 64. Mass storage 60may be utilized in addition to memory 52, or may not be included at all,in which case the data elements illustrated as stored on mass storage 60would be stored in memory 52. For exemplary purposes, mass storage 60includes digital media files 58, illustrating that one or more digitalmedia files 58 may be stored in mass storage 60 of device 10. Moreover,mass storage 60 includes a license database 62, where license database62 includes one or more license records 64. In an embodiment, licensedatabase 62 includes license records 64, where license records 64indicate a media content item that a user of the device may be licensedto reproduce.

Media content licensing and verification system 16 includes atransceiver 68, a processor 66, an input/output interface 70, a massstorage 74, a memory 76, and a HMI 72. Memory 76 includes an application78, an OS 80, a registered user database 86, a digital media catalogdatabase 82, and a licensing statistics database 92. Application 78and/or the OS 80 may include program code including one or moreinstructions configured to be executed by processor 66 to causelicensing system 16 to perform steps necessary to perform embodiments ofthe disclosure.

Registered user database 86 includes a user record 88. User record 88includes a license record 90. Digital media catalog database 82 includesa media record 84. Each media record 84 includes data associated with aunique media content item loaded into the licensing system 16. As such,a rights-holder or content creator may load a catalog of media contentitems that may include but not limited to a song, a movie, a televisionshow, a novel, and/or any other media content item into licensing system16. Licensing system 16 may analyze each media content item in thecatalog, and generate a media record corresponding to each media contentitem. In some embodiments, each media record may include data indicatingvarious information of the corresponding media content item, includingbut not limited to the rights-holder of the media content item, thetitle of the media content item, the plurality of identifyingcharacteristics, and/or any other information associated with thecorresponding media content item that will be apparent to the thoseskilled in the relevant art(s) without departing from the spirit andscope of the disclosure.

Each user record 88 may be associated with a unique user and indicatesall media content items the user has purchased a license for. Each userrecord 88 may include one or more license records 90, where each licenserecord may include data indicating a media content item that the user islicensed to reproduce.

Licensing statistics database 92 includes a statistics record 94. Eachstatistics record 94 may include data indicating a license purchased bya user connecting to licensing system 16. The data may include, forexample, whether a user that purchased a license for a particular mediacontent item, how many users refused to license a particular mediacontent item, the rights-holder of the media content item for which thelicense was purchased, the title of the media content item, demographicinformation for the user that may include but is not limited to age,gender, location, and/or any other data that may be associated with theuser and/or license obtained by the user that will be apparent to thoseskilled in the relevant art(s) without departing from the spirit andscope of the disclosure.

Embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented on any type ofprocessing (or computing) device having one or more processors. Forexample, embodiments can be implemented on a workstation, mobile device,computer, cluster of computers, set-top box, or other devices having atleast one processor. In an embodiment, multiple modules may beimplemented on the same processing device. Software can include one ormore applications and an operating system. Hardware can include, but maynot be limited to, a processor, memory, and/or graphical user interfacedisplay.

Method 100

FIG. 3 illustrates a flowchart of an exemplary method 100 of processinga digital media catalog for use in a media content licensing andverification system. At step 102, the media content licensing andverification system receives digital media catalog. At step 104, eachmedia content item of the received catalog may be analyzed.

At step 106, a plurality of identifying characteristics associated withthe media content item may be determined. For example, the fingerprintof the media content item may be determined. Determining a media contentfingerprint may include one or more steps for analyzing the digital fileincluding the media content item to determine one or morecharacteristics that uniquely identify the media content item storedtherein. For example, if the media content item were a book stored in adigital text file, the natural media fingerprint may be determined to bea predefined number of words from the beginning of the text file.

In another exemplary embodiment, the media content item may be a songstored in a digital music file, and the system may determine the naturalmedia fingerprint by analyzing the digital music file to identify lyricsincluded in the song, notes played in the song, and/or a sampled soundwave included in the song. These characteristics may be consideredindividually or in various combinations to uniquely identify the song.Moreover, in many digital media file formats, one or more informationfields related to the media content item stored in the file are includedin metadata of the file. In an embodiment of the invention, the systemmay analyze metadata included in the digital media file to identify themedia content item stored thereon.

In step 108, the system generates a media record for each media contentitem, where the media record includes data indicating the fingerprint,rights-holder information, title, and/or any other media content itemdata. In step 110, the media record is stored in a digital media catalogdatabase accessible by the system.

Embodiments can work with software, hardware, and/or operating systemimplementations other than those described herein. Any software,hardware, and operating system implementations suitable for performingthe functions described herein can be used.

Method 120

FIG. 4 illustrates a flowchart of an exemplary method 120 of verifyingthat a digital media file has been licensed prior to reproduction andfacilitating the purchase of a license if the digital media file has notbeen properly licensed prior to reproduction. At step 122, a digitalmedia file is loaded for reproduction on the external multimediahardware device. At step 124, the device analyzes the digital mediafile.

At step 126, information associated with the digital media file isdetermined. Information associated with the digital media file mayinclude a fingerprint associated with the media content item included inthe digital media file, the rights-holder of the media content item, thetitle of the media content item, and/or any other digit al media fileinformation that will be apparent to those skilled in the relevantart(s) without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.For example, as described above with respect to FIG. 3 , the device mayanalyze the digital media file to determine one or more characteristicsof the media content item stored thereon, where the characteristics maybe utilized alone and/or in various combinations to identify the mediacontent item.

The selected characteristics may be referred to as the natural mediafingerprint of the media content item. Advantageously, the natural mediafingerprint identifies a media content item, even considering thepossibility of different versions of the same media content item. Forexample, multiple versions of a song are recorded at various times andmay be stored as digital music files, such as a live version and astudio version. However, by analyzing the characteristics of a mediacontent item, different versions of the same song may be consistentlyidentified. For example, analyzing characteristics may include analyzingword recognition of lyrics, the occurrence of various frequencies atparticular points in time in relation to the occurrence of the lyrics,and/or any other media content item characteristic that will be apparentto those skilled in the relevant art(s) without departing from thespirit and scope of the disclosure.

At step 128, the device accesses a license database. At step 130,whether a user of the device has a license for the digital media filemay be determined based on the natural media fingerprint and/or otherdigital media information, such as metadata, included in the digitalmedia file. At step 132, the device initializes reproduction of thedigital media file in response to the determining that the user has theappropriate license.

At step 134, the device generates a display query asking the userwhether the user would like to purchase a license for the digital mediafile in response to determining that the user does not have theappropriate license. The device generates a display query asking theuser whether the user would like to purchase a license for the digitalmedia file.

At step 136, the device indicates to the user that the digital mediafile cannot be played in response to the user indicating that the userwould not like to purchase a license. At step 137, the device transmitsstatistics related to the media content item stored on the digital mediafile to the media content licensing and verification system. Thestatistics information may include, for example, the determined naturalmedia fingerprint of the media content item stored in the digital mediafile and/or any other such information related to the media contentitem, the digital media file, the external multimedia hardware device,and/or the user of the device.

At step 138, the device initializes a licensing interface in response tothe user indicating that the user would like to purchase the license.The device initializes a licensing interface that includes establishinga secure communication connection to a media content licensing andverification system.

At step 140, the device transmits user identification data to thesystem, such that the user of the device may be identified to log into auser account associated with the user, process the licensingtransaction, and/or for other such reasons to facilitate purchasing alicense for the media content item. The user identification data mayinclude for example, a user name and password, a unique identifierassociated with the user, the user's billing information, and/or anyother user identification data that will be apparent to those skilled inthe relevant art(s) without departing from the spirit and scope of thedisclosure.

At step 142, the device transmits a licensing request to the system,where the request includes information corresponding to the digitalmedia file and the media content item included in the digital mediafile, such as the fingerprint of the media content item, the title ofthe media content item, the rights-holder of the digital media file,and/or other media content item information that will be apparent tothose skilled in the relevant art(s) without departing from the spiritand scope of the disclosure.

Embodiments can work with software, hardware, and/or operating systemimplementations other than those described herein. Any software,hardware, and operating system implementations suitable for performingthe functions described herein can be used.

Method 160

FIG. 5 illustrates a flowchart of an exemplary method 160 of processinga license request from an external multimedia hardware device. At step161, prior to initializing the licensing transaction, the systemreceives the user identification data and confirms the user's identity.For example, the system logs the device into a secured transactioninterface associated with an account of the user.

At step 162, the system receives a digital media licensing request froman external multimedia hardware device over a network where thelicensing request includes data indicating a media content item that auser of the device wishes to acquire a license for. In an embodiment,the licensing request includes a fingerprint of the media content item,information identifying the rights-holder of the media content item, thetitle of the media content item, and/or other media content iteminformation.

At step 164, the system accesses a digital media catalog database toidentify the media content item indicated by the request. At step 166,the system matches the fingerprint of the media content item included inthe license request to a fingerprint in the digital media catalogdatabase to identify the media content item associated with thelicensing request, the rights-holder associated with the media contentitem, the price required for a license for the media content item,and/or any other identification information that will be apparent tothose skilled in the relevant art(s) without departing from the spiritand scope of the disclosure.

At step 168, the system transmits data to the device indicating that alicense is not required for reproduction in response to determining thata record corresponding to the media content item is not in the digitalmedia catalog database. At step 169, the system transmits data to thedevice such that a user of the device may confirm a transaction toacquire the license associated with the media content item in responseto identifying the media content item associated with the licensingrequest. In an embodiment, the system transmits data indicating thetitle of the media content item, the rights-holder of the media contentitem, an artist associated with the media content item, and/or othermedia content information such that the device presents this informationto the user when asking the user whether to confirm the transaction.

At step 170, the system transmits data to the device indicating that thelicense has not been purchased in response to the user declining thelicensing transaction, at which point, the device may refuse toreproduce the digital media file for the user. At step 172, the systemprocesses the licensing transaction in response to the user confirmingthe licensing transaction and the system receiving confirmation datafrom the device. The processing may include collecting paymentinformation, charging previously known payment information, debiting auser account, and/or any other such payment processing methods.

At step 174, the system transmits a license associated with the mediacontent item over the communication network to the device in response toprocessing the licensing transaction. At step 176, the system generatesa license record indicating the user and the media content item inresponse to processing the transaction, the system generates atransaction record including data that identifies the user, the mediacontent item, demographic information about the user, and/or any otherlicense record information that will be apparent to those skilled in therelevant art(s) without departing from the spirit and scope of thedisclosure.

At step 177, the user has not purchased a license for a media contentitem, either because the media content item is not identified in thedatabase or because the user refuses to make the purchase. However, astatistics record may be generated. The statistics data may include forexample the natural media fingerprint associated with the media contentitem, the rights-holder of the media content item, the title of themedia content item, and/or any other statistical data. The statisticsdata generated may be utilized for a variety of purposes, including forexample, encouraging non-participating rights-holders from participatingin the system by identifying the number of times a license was requestedfor a media content item owned by the non-participating rights-holder.At step 178, the statistics record is stored in the licensing statisticsdatabase, and the license record is stored in the registered userdatabase in a user record associated with the user.

Embodiments can work with software, hardware, and/or operating systemimplementations other than those described herein. Any software,hardware, and operating system implementations suitable for performingthe functions described herein can be used.

Method 180

FIG. 6 illustrates a flowchart of an exemplary method 180 of loadinglicenses for media content items associated with a user from third partysources. At step 182, the system connects to a third party online mediaretailer. At step 184, licenses purchased from the third party retailersmay be uploaded into a registered user database of the system. At step186, after receiving the user license data, the system updates theregistered user database of the system.

Embodiments can work with software, hardware, and/or operating systemimplementations other than those described herein. Any software,hardware, and operating system implementations suitable for performingthe functions described herein can be used.

Method 200

FIG. 7 illustrates a flowchart of an exemplary method 700 of providingstatistics associated with licensing transactions performed by thesystem to a third party over a communication network consistent withembodiments of the invention. At step 202, the system stores one or moretransaction records in a connected licensing statistics database.

At step 204, the system dynamically aggregates the transaction recordsin relation to one or more fields of information included in eachtransaction record. For example, the system may aggregate alltransaction records stored in the licensing statistics database wherethe media content item of the transaction record has a desired title,and as such, data and statistics related to how many times a license waspurchased for the media content item having the desired title may beretrieved. In an embodiment, similar aggregation may be performed todetermine how many licenses were purchased for a particularrights-holder, titles of media content items that users of a particulardemographic purchased, and/or other such relevant data and statistics.

At step 206, the system may receive a statistics request from a thirdparty that may include but not limited to a rights-holder, a hardwaremanufacturer, a marketing/analytics partner, and/or other such thirdparties that will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art(s)without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.

At step 208, the system may generate a statistics report based on thereceived request. At step 210, the system may transmit the statisticsreport to the third party over the communication network. As such, in anembodiment a participating rights-holder may quickly retrieve licensingdata and statistics for media content items that the rights-holder owns.In another embodiment, a marketing and/or analytics company may receivevaluable licensing and statistics data for media content items forparticular demographics of users, genres of media content items, and/orother such categories.

Embodiments can work with software, hardware, and/or operating systemimplementations, other than those described herein. Any software,hardware, and operating system implementations suitable for performingthe functions described herein can be used.

CONCLUSION

As such, in general, some embodiments of the invent ion are directed toa system for recognizing licensed and unlicensed multi-media content byuse of a natural media fingerprint recognition and license verificationdatabase and system. The system disables the use of unlicensed contentand provides a secure method to license unlicensed multimedia contentand distribute the licensing revenue to content owners, rights-holders,participating third-party hardware and software manufacturers, and/orother additional third parties. In some embodiments, an externalmulti-media hardware device includes a hardware or software read/writelicensed media database module, operatively connected to a hardware orsoftware natural media fingerprint recognition and license verificationmodule, where the recognition and license verification module may beoperatively connected to a hardware or software data encryption module.Moreover, the device may include an operating system and/or applicationstored on memory associated with the external multi-media hardwaredevice. Where the operating system and/or application may be executed bya processor associated with the device to cause the processor to controlone or more of the modules to perform one or more tasks associated withthe one or more modules. In addition, media reproduction (e.g., audioand video playback) hardware and/or software module may be monitored andcontrolled by processor of the device operatively connected to,executing, and/or accessing the content fingerprint recognition andlicense verification module. Moreover, a physical memory device (e.g., amemory and/or a mass storage device) may be accessible by the processorduring execution of the one or more operations of the operating systemand/or application residing on a memory associated with the externalmulti-media hardware device. In some embodiments, the operating systemand/or application may cause the processor to drive a peripheral deviceusing an I/O interface to present a user of the device with a graphicuser interface.

Furthermore, the external multimedia hardware device may communicateover a communication network (e.g., an internet connection, a cellularcommunication network connection, etc.). In some embodiments, theexternal multimedia hardware device may be connected to a one or moreservers functioning as a media content licensing and verification systemover the communication network, such as a media content licensing andverification system shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 . In other embodiments, theexternal multimedia hardware device may be connected to a personalcomputer functioning as a media content licensing and verificationsystem. For example, an external multimedia hardware device may connectto a user's personal computer over a Wi-Fi connection to verify a userhas the appropriate license to reproduce a particular media contentitem, where the personal computer may include a plurality of licensingrecords associated with the user. In some embodiments, the communicationconnection between the device and the server may be a secure internetconnection. In addition, the media content licensing and verificationsystem may receive multi-media content items (e.g., songs, videos,books, etc.) from participating copyright owners and/or rights-holdersthrough a catalog submissions module operatively connected to the systemand executing thereon. The catalog submissions may be loaded into anatural media fingerprint creation module to generate a natural mediafingerprint catalog. In addition, the system may be operativelyconnected to a storage device storing a registered users and licensedmedia database.

In addition, the media content licensing and verification system may beoperatively connected to and/or execute a secure license verificationand payment collection module stored on a connected storage deviceand/or executing on a computing system connected over the communicationnetwork. Such that the the content fingerprint and licenses verificationmodule associated with the external multimedia hardware device mayconduct license purchasing transactions by communicating over thecommunication network with the media licensing and verification systemand/or the secure license verification and payment collection module.The secure license verification and payment collection module may beconnected through the central computer controlled sub-system server(e.g. a media content licensing and verification system) and/or througha computing system in communication with the media content licensing andverification system over the communication network.

As such, the application and/or operating system executing on theexternal multimedia hardware device may facilitate licensingtransactions for various media content items stored in the media contentlicensing and verification system. Furthermore, the media contentlicensing and verification system may include a payments distributionwith real-time statistics module that may execute on the media contentlicensing and verification system, such that copyright owners,rights-holders, and/or participating hardware manufacturers may receivepayments and statistics associated with the licensing of media contentitems using the media content licensing and verification system.

In some embodiments, pre-existing licenses may be submitted to the mediacontent licensing and verification system such that the registered usersand licensed media master database may be updated to include licensesfor registered users purchased from third party sources, such as thirdparty online media retailers. Where the previously purchased licensedata may be imported into the system over the communication network tothe media content licensing and verification system from the third partysources, such as databases maintained by third parties.

It will therefore be appreciated that the invention may be implemented,for example, using program code implemented on one or morehardware-based computers, one or more processors, and/or one or moreintegrated circuits (e.g., semiconductors). Program code typicallycomprises one or more instructions that are resident at various times invarious memory and storage devices in a computer, and that, when readand executed by one or more processors in a computer, cause thatcomputer to perform the steps necessary to execute steps or elementsembodying the various aspects of the invention. Moreover, while theinvention has and hereinafter will be described in the context of fullyfunctioning computers and computer systems, those skilled in the artwill appreciate that the various embodiments of the invention arecapable of being distributed as a program product in a variety of forms,and that the invention applies equally regardless of the particular typeof computer readable media used to actually carry out the distribution.Examples of computer readable media include but are not limited totangible, recordable type media such as volatile and non-volatile memorydevices, floppy and other removable disks, hard disk drives, magnetictape, optical disks (e.g., CD-ROMs, DVDs, etc.) among others.

Moreover, while the invention has and hereinafter will been described inthe context of digital media files resident on a memory, the inventionis not so limited. Those skilled in the art will appreciate thatembodiments of the invention are capable of facilitating licensingtransactions with respect to streaming digital media. For example, amedia content item may be streamed to an external multimedia hardwaredevice over a communication network, and a portion of the media contentitem may be stored in a local memory (e.g., buffered in a cache of aprocessor associated with the external multimedia hardware device) whilea portion may be stored remotely on a memory device accessible by theexternal multimedia hardware device over a communication network. Forexample, a media content item may be streamed to an external multimediahardware device over a communication network from a cloud based storagesystem, a digital media streaming service (e.g., Pandora, Last.fm,Spotify, iTunes, iCloud, Netflix, and/or other such services) andembodiments of the invention may analyze the media content item whenloaded for reproduction and perform the operations consistent withembodiments of the invention to confirm that a user of the device hasthe appropriate license for the streaming media content item prior toreproducing the streaming media content item.

While the invention has been illustrated by a description of the variousembodiments and the examples, and while these embodiments have beendescribed in considerable detail, it is not the intention of theapplicants to restrict or in any other way limit the scope of theinvention to such detail. Additional advantages and modifications willreadily appear to those skilled in the art. Thus, the invention in itsbroader aspects is therefore not limited to the specific details,representative apparatus and method, and illustrative example shown anddescribed. In particular, any of the blocks of the above flowcharts maybe deleted, augmented, made to be simultaneous with another, combined,or be otherwise altered in accordance with the principles of theinvention. Accordingly, departures may be made from such details withoutdeparting from the spirit or scope of applicants' general inventiveconcept.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for determining a trend of interest of atarget demographic comprising: at least one processor; and a memorycoupled with the processor, the memory including instructions that whenexecuted by the processor cause the processor to: receiving a requestfrom a user and a second request from a second user to reproduce themedia content item, in response to each of the request and the secondrequest, identifying the media content item by determining a mediafingerprint that identifies a unique characteristic present in the mediacontent item captured during creation of the media content item, afterevaluating the request, extracting user data including first demographicdata specific to the user into a first statistics record identified bythe corresponding media fingerprint when the user accepts an offer toacquire a license to the media content item, after evaluating the secondrequest, extracting second user data including second demographic datadifferent from the first demographic data specific to the second userinto a second statistics record identified by the corresponding mediafingerprint when the second user declines an offer to acquire a licenseto the media content, appending, using the media fingerprint, the firstand second statistics record to a plurality of statistics records, alsocorresponding to and identified by, the media fingerprint to create anupdated plurality of statistic records in a database, receiving one ormore request, and in response to the one or more request, retrieving theupdated plurality of statistics records from the data base using themedia fingerprint, determining, using the retrieved plurality ofstatistics records, the trend of interest of the target demographicbased on: a first demographic corresponding to the first demographicdata a second demographic corresponding to the second demographic data,and a plurality of additional demographic data corresponding to theretrieved plurality of statistics records, determining based on thetrend of interest, a price for the media content item, and providing themedia content item to a plurality of other users corresponding to thedetermined target demographic for the determined price.
 2. The system ofclaim 1 wherein the media content item is stored in a database and canrepresent an audio file, a video file, or a digital text file.
 3. Thesystem of claim 2 wherein the database is remote from the processor andthe memory.
 4. The system of claim 2 wherein database is locally cachedwithin the memory.
 5. The system of claim 1 wherein the third partyrequest is from one of a rights-holder, a hardware manufacturer, amarketing partner, or analytics partner.
 6. The system of claim 1wherein when the trend of interest indicates lower interest, the priceis adjusted to be lower than a previously determined price.
 7. Thesystem of claim 1 wherein when the trend of interest indicates higherinterest, the price is adjusted to be higher than a previouslydetermined price.
 8. The system of claim 1 wherein the trend of interestis based on a plurality of user interaction with the media content itemover a span of time.
 9. A method of determining a trend of interest of atarget demographic comprising steps of: receiving a request from a userand a second request from a second user to reproduce the media contentitem, in response to each of the request and the second request,identifying the media content item by determining a media fingerprintthat identifies a unique characteristic present in the media contentitem captured during creation of the media content item, afterevaluating the request, extracting user data including first demographicdata specific to the user into a first statistics record identified bythe corresponding media fingerprint when the user accepts an offer toacquire a license to the media content item, after evaluating the secondrequest, extracting second user data including second demographic datadifferent from the first demographic data specific to the second userinto a second statistics record identified by the corresponding mediafingerprint when the second user declines an offer to acquire a licenseto the media content, appending, using the media fingerprint, the firstand second statistics record to a plurality of statistics records, alsocorresponding to and identified by, the media fingerprint to create anupdated plurality of statistic records in a database, receiving one ormore request, and in response to the one or more request, retrieving theupdated plurality of statistics records from the data base using themedia fingerprint, determining, using the retrieved plurality ofstatistics records, the trend of interest of the target demographicbased on: a first demographic corresponding to the first demographicdata a second demographic corresponding to the second demographic data,and a plurality of additional demographic data corresponding to theretrieved plurality of statistics records, determining based on thetrend of interest, a price for the media content item, and providing themedia content item to a plurality of other users corresponding to thedetermined target demographic for the determined price.
 10. The methodof claim 9 wherein the media content item is stored in a database andcan represent an audio file, a video file, or a digital text file. 11.The method of claim 10 wherein the database is remote from the processorand the memory.
 12. The method of claim 10 wherein database is locallycached within the memory.
 13. The method of claim 9 wherein the thirdparty request is from one of a rights-holder, a hardware manufacturer, amarketing partner, or analytics partner.
 14. The method of claim 9wherein when the trend of interest indicates lower interest, the priceis adjusted to be lower than a previously determined price.
 15. Themethod of claim 9 wherein when the trend of interest indicates higherinterest, the price is adjusted to be higher than a previouslydetermined price.
 16. The method of claim 9 wherein the trend ofinterest is based on a plurality of user interaction with the mediacontent item over a span of time.
 17. A non-transitory computer readablememory comprising instructions which, when executed by a processor,implement the method of claim
 9. 18. The memory of claim 17 wherein themedia content item is an audio file, a video file, or a digital textfile.
 19. The memory of claim 17 wherein the request is from one of arights-holder, a hardware manufacturer, a marketing partner, oranalytics partner.
 20. The memory of claim 17 wherein the trend ofinterest is based on a plurality of user interaction with the mediacontent item over a span of time.